ANGOLA AND CUBA REVIEW COOPERATION IN EDUCATION

 The cooperation between Angola and Cuba, in the education sector, was analyzed last Wednesday between the ministers of Angola, Luísa Grilo, and of Cuba, Ena Elsa Velázquez.

The meeting, which was held by video conference, addressed various aspects of Cuban cooperation in the education sector, reflecting into the contractual relationship between the Ministry of Education of Angola and the ANTEX Company, responsible for sending specialists to teach at technical and polytechnic institutes at national level.

However, Luísa Grilo stressed that at the moment the instruction is to reduce the number of Cuban teachers in the country, and the new strategy involves training national instructors.

According to the Angolan official, since 2018 the Ministry of Education has gradually reduced the contingent of Cuban teachers and in return has opened public recruitment processes for national citizens, in the technical, technological and practical components, with a view to the replacement of Cuban specialists in Angola.

On her turn of the Cuban Education minister, Ena Elsa Velázquez, said that her country has a long history with Angola in the field of education and understands that the current scenario does not allow this cooperation to evolve.

It is recalled that Cuba helped to train more than three million Angolans.

ANGOLA AND MOZAMBIQUE ANALYSE DEFENCE AND SECURITY MATTERS

 Angola and Mozambique analyzed aspects related to the strengthening of bilateral cooperation in the defense and security domain, in a meeting held between delegations of both countries, states an official note.

According to the note from the Ministry of National Defense and Veterans of the Homeland, aspects related to the strengthening of cooperation between Angola and Mozambique in the military area were at the center of the meeting held from 12 to 13 this month, in Luanda.

The delegations were headed on the Angolan side by the Minister of National Defense and Veterans of the Homeland, João Ernesto dos Santos “Liberdade”, and the Mozambican minister of National Defense, Jaime Bessa Augusto Neto, who headed a delegation made up of four other officials.

The initiative fits in the scope of regular meetings between the defense and security bodies of the two countries.

COVID-19: ANGOLAN AUTHORITIES ANNOUNCE NEW INFECTIONS, RECOVERIES

 Eighty two new positive cases, 119 recovered ones and 2 deaths is the balance of the last 24hours in the country, that sums a total of 18 425 infections recorded since the beginning of the newcoronavirus pandemic in Angola, in March last year.

Luanda with 59 cases, Moxico (6), Zaire (5), Bié (4), Benguela and Uíge (3 each), Lunda Norte (2), Cabinda, Cuando Cubango and Lunda Sul (1 each) are the most affected provinces in this update, which also informed that in the new cases there are 49 men and 33 women, from 8 to 75 years of age.

The recoveries took place in the provinces of Luanda (82), Zaire (19), Bié (12) and Cuando Cubango (6) citizens, aged between 21 and 61 years old, currently totaling 15,631 hitherto free of the SARS Virus - Cov2 in the country.

The two deaths occurred in Luanda and Cuanza Norte, involving two elderly people (male and female), 71, both Angolans, according to the Secretary of State for Public Health, Franco Mufinda.

When updating the data on the pandemic in Angola, the official said we are now facing 2,370 active people, 201 patients hospitalized in the Treatment Centers, 151 in Institutional Quarantine and 3,378 under surveillance of the authorities.

Olympic swimming medallist Keller charged over Capitol riot

 US Olympic swimming gold medallist Klete Keller was charged by the Justice Department on Wednesday with participating in the January 6 attack on Congress by supporters of President Donald Trump.

Keller was filmed as part of the crowd that illegally entered the huge Rotunda hall of the Capitol after violent protesters broke through police lines and forced their way in.

A statement accompanying formal cartoons unveiled on Wednesday said police identified the three-time Olympian first by what appears to be an official team jacket bearing the large logo “USA” on the back and an arm patch that read “United States Olympic team”.

He was charged with illegally entering the Capitol, violent or disorderly conduct, and obstructing law enforcement.

Keller, 38, competed in the Olympics in 2000, 2004 and 2008, taking two golds and a silver in the 4 × 200 meter freestyle relays, and two bronzes in the individual 400 meter freestyle.

His 2004 relay gold in Athens was one of the most celebrated races in swimming, with a US star team that included Michael Phelps, against an Australian foursome led by the powerful champion Ian Thorpe.

In the anchor position, he was able to hold off a surging Thorpe for the win, ending years of Australian dominance in the event.

His life after the Olympics was rocky, with a divorce, multiple lost jobs, and plunge into homelessness and living out of his car for a time, he told The Olympic Channel in a 2018 podcast.

SOURCE: AFP

‘Dangerous’: Twitter CEO defends Trump ban, warns about precedent

 Twitter Inc Chief Executive Jack Dorsey says that banning United States President Donald Trump from its social media platform after last week’s violence at the US Capitol was the “right decision” but said it sets a dangerous precedent.

San Francisco-based Twitter last week removed Trump’s account, which had 88 million followers, citing the risk of further violence following the storming of the Capitol by supporters of the president.

“Having to take these actions fragment the public conversation,” Dorsey said on Twitter. “They divide us. They limit the potential for clarification, redemption, and learning. And sets a precedent I feel is dangerous: the power an individual or corporation has over a part of the global public conversation.”

The ban drew criticism from some Republicans who said it quelled the president’s right to free speech. German Chancellor Angela Merkel also warned through a spokesman that legislators, not private companies, should decide on potential curbs to free expression.

In his Twitter thread, Dorsey said that while he took no pride in the ban, “Offline harm as a result of online speech is demonstrably real, and what drives our policy and enforcement above all.”

Even so, he added, “While there are clear and obvious exceptions, I feel a ban is a failure of ours ultimately to promote healthy conversation.”

Twitter has introduced a series of measures over the last year such as labels, warnings and distribution restrictions to reduce the need for decisions about removing content entirely from the service.

‘Healthy’ conversations

Dorsey has said he believes those measures can promote more fruitful, or “healthy,” conversations online and lessen the effect of bad behaviour.

The Twitter CEO added that bans by social media companies on Trump after last week’s violence were emboldened by each other’s actions even though they were not coordinated. But in the long term, the precedent set “will be destructive to the noble purpose and ideals of the open internet,” he said.

Supporters of Trump who has repeatedly made baseless claims challenging Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the November election, stormed the US Capitol on January 6, trying to halt the certification by Congress of Biden’s Electoral College win.

On Wednesday, Trump became the first president in US history to be impeached twice.

SOURCE : REUTERS

Tigray: Ethiopian army kills ex-Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin

 Ethiopia says its forces have killed three members of the conflict-hit Tigray region’s former ruling party, including former Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin.

The three Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) officials were killed after they refused to surrender to the military, the government’s task force for the crisis in Tigray said on Twitter on Wednesday. Five other TPLF members were captured, it added.

Seyoum was Ethiopiaasss foreign minister from 1991 until 2010. The two others killed were former Federal Affairs Minister Abay Tsehaye and ex-parliamentary chief whip Asmelash Woldeselassie.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmedks government declared victory in its conflict with the TPLF, a political party that previously governed the province, on November 28 after it regained control of the region controls capital, Mekelle.

Fighting started after the TPLF allegedly attacked federal military bases at multiple locations in the region, triggering a war that has shaken the Horn of Africa.

Operations continue

Fugitive leaders of the TPLF had promised to continue to fight from the mountains of the region in northern Ethiopia, but their whereabouts are still unknown.

The military said last week it had captured Sebhat Nega, a founding member of the TPLF.

At the weekend, it said it had killed 15 TPLF members and captured eight others, according to state-run TV.

Those captured reportedly included the region’s former president Abay Weldu, who was also a former chairman of the region’s ruling party.

Air raids and battles since early November in Tigray are believed to have killed thousands of people. Fighting is continuing in some parts and more than two million people need aid, the United Nations said this week.

Media have been unable to verify claims by either side since phone and internet connections to the Tigray region are down and access to the area is strictly controlled.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES

Africa secures close to 300 million vaccine doses

 THE African Union has secured close to 300 million Covid-19 vaccine doses in the largest such agreement yet for Africa, a continental official said Tuesday.

Nicaise Ndembi, senior science adviser for the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told The Associated Press in an interview that the current AU chair, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, is expected to announce the news on Wednesday.

The 300 million doses are being secured independently of the global COVAX effort aimed at distributing Covid-19 vaccines to lower-income countries, Ndembi said. ‘We have reached the final stage of our deals,‘ he said, referring questions about who will be providing the vaccines and at what cost to the upcoming announcement.

The news comes as coronavirus infections spike again in parts of Africa, especially South Africa, where a rapidly spreading variant of the coronavirus now makes up most of the new cases. The continent over the weekend surpassed 3 million confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic, with more than 1.2 million in South Africa.

'We plan to have these by the end of the first quarter' of 2021, Ndembi said of the nearly 300 million doses, which will be allocated on the continental platform the AU set up last year to make it easier for Africa's 54 countries to pool their purchasing power and buy pandemic supplies in bulk.

’We ,re expecting 600 million doses from the COVAX facility,’ he said, but African officials are still waiting on the details, so on we ,re happy we have alternative solutions. ’

Ndembi said African officials have approached at least 10 vaccine manufacturers and developers as the continent seeks to vaccinate 60 percent of its population of 1.3 billion people, or about 780 million people. The Africa CDC has said some 1.5 billion doses are needed for that, assuming two doses per person. It estimates the effort will cost some $ 10 billion.

Ndembi has said he Ns very optimistic that can be achieved within two years. The Africa CDC has warned that taking much longer than that risks having the virus become endemic in parts of the African continent.

In an address to South Africans on Monday night, Ramaphosa announced the country had secured 20 million vaccine doses' to be delivered mainly in the first half of the year. 'He gave no further details but said' we will make further announcements as we conclude our negotiations with vaccine manufacturers. '

Africa has scrambled on multiple fronts to obtain vaccine supplies. Ramaphosa said the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team recently created under the AU said has done tremendous work to secure vaccine doses secure through what he called intensive engagement with manufacturers.

Said The South African government has also been engaging directly with several vaccine manufacturers for over six months, said he said.

Said Given the massive global demand for vaccines and the vastly greater purchasing power of wealthier countries, we are exploring all avenues to get as many vaccine doses as soon as possible,, Ramaphosa said.